


Stupid Lisp

by loserwithapencil



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Crying, Getting Together, Lisp, M/M, Rich is insecure and Jake doesn't know why, Swearing, its a little angsty but mostly just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 20:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10907340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loserwithapencil/pseuds/loserwithapencil
Summary: "You're bi right?" Rich's eyes widened, but he nodded, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "So it's not like totally weird if I wanted to kiss you?"AKA: Rich is insecure and having a crisis about doing an oral presentation and Jake is head over heels for his best "bro".





	Stupid Lisp

Rich hated his stupid lisp.  
And his stupid dad.  
And his stupid voice.  
And his stupid house.  
And his stupid brain.  
And everything else. 

He was happier being himself sometimes, but other days felt like the world was coming down on him. Other days just felt like hell. Some days he just felt like punching walls and screaming in frustration. Other days he felt like crying. The lisp was just the icing on his shitty life cake. 

And that's why oral presentations made him want to skip school more than anything. Now, Rich had no problem skipping school, but he really didn't want to disappoint his mom. Not now. Not when things were just starting to suck again at home. So he sat at his sixth period lunch, practicing his presentation on the The Great Gatsby, nearly screaming because he couldn't even get the first few words out properly. Fists clenched in frustration, paper ripped at the edges from getting upset, and pencil threatening to tip right over the edge of the table, he cracked out another try. 

"The Great Gatssby was-s," tears pricked on the corners of his eyes and he added it to the things he hated. 

He hated crying. 

Crying made him feel weak and small. And stupid. Why did he always have to feel stupid? He let his head droop down, attempting to hide the tears threatening to fall from the pools in his eyes. 

"Hey, Rich. It sounds fine. I swear." Jake said, a hand gently touching his shoulder from across the table. Rich stood up, crumpled the paper, and walked straight out of the cafeteria. The last thing he wanted was for Jake to see him crying about something so stupid. 

Out the front door of the school and around the building he went, sighing as he felt wet tracks roll down his face. He wasn't even crying because he was sad. He was frustrated and annoyed and ashamed, but not sad. 

Rich Goranski didn't get sad.  
Rich Goranski was a tough guy.  
Rich Goranski was crying behind the school. 

"The Great Fucking Gats-by." Of course the title of the stupid presentation had to have an s in it. Of course it did. His red sneaker kicked the brick wall of the building in the small alcove he liked so much. It was just an indented part in the wall he hung out in when he got like this. When he had the squip it was where he brought girls to smoke. 

Now it was where he kicked walls and cried. 

Great. 

A small buzz came from his pocket and he checked it quickly. The caller ID flashed with "Jakey-D" and a small, really zoomed in picture of Jake's face. If he answered, Jake would come find him. If he didn't answer, Jake would still find him. It would probably be best to just answer and convince him not to come. So Rich answered and attempted to make his voice sound as normal as possible. 

"He-"

"Rich, are you okay?!" Jake interrupted, nearly frantic. 

"Yeah. Why?" He smiled and nodded, trying to get into a happy state and level his voice. 

"Because you crumpled up your report and ran out of the cafeteria." Rich expected an soft laugh, but got nothing but silence and worry. 

That wasn't like Jake at all. 

"Just kinda frustrated dude. That's it." Rich choked out a laugh that simply sounded forced and fake. 

"Rich. Where are you dude?" Of course Jake saw through his act. 

"Just hanging out, cooling off dude. No need to get worried."

"Same spot as usual. Got it." The phone disconnected and Rich didn't know it, but Jake was nearly sprinting down the halls. He nudged a few people out of his way and burst out the front door. Then he broke into a full run. 

Rich spun around when Jake showed up way sooner than expected. 

"Did you-did you run here?" Rich released a breathy laugh at the sight of Jake breathing a bit heavier than usual. 

"Man, I-" a pause, "Are you crying?" 

Silence. 

"No." Not anymore. 

"Rich." Jake came closer and now barely a foot of space was between them. 

"I'm just frustrated. I'm fine, Jake." The frustrated sounded off slightly. He had said it slower, more patiently. Jake immediately knew what he was trying to do. 

He was trying not to lisp. 

"Is this about your," a worried look planted itself on his face, "lisp?"

A pause. Rich took a second to appreciate that Jake was so utterly likable. His head was tilted to the side and he looked so concerned. His brown hair was ruffled and his blue eyes were washed with worry. Rich thanked every god that Jake still wanted to be his friend after his squip was gone. 

"Yeah. It's the fucking lisp, man. I just, I hate it. I hate it so much. And things aren't great at home and I have to do a presentation today and I'm a straight C student without my squip. It sucks and I hate it." He kicked the wall again, but this time it looked sad. For the first time ever, Jake was seeing the new, real Rich Goranski sad. 

He broke at that. The hidden meanings in his words were all among, "I hate myself." and "I hate my life." He was self conscious and frustrated and upset. 

For the first time in what felt like years,

neither of them knew what to do. 

Rich was one of the most confident and happiest people he knew. A little angry, sure, but he means well. And Jake hated that he felt the way he did. 

Rich leaned against the wall and breathed shakily. Tears were no longer falling, but the memories and the wet streaks down his face remained. He swiped his hair back with one hand and closed his eyes for a second, leaning his head back. One red strand fell out of his pushed back style and onto his forehead. 

Jake couldn't help but think, "Why is he self conscious? He's so attractive. And nice. And open. And smart. And accepting and friendly and great." He smiled a little.

Plus his lisp was kind of adorable. 

"I think your lisp is cute." He voiced aloud, blushing, but without regret. He wanted to make Rich feel better. That was the only thing that mattered to him. 

"What? Dude!" Rich sputtered out, voice higher than normal. 

Oh god. 

"Not important, sorry." Cue the signature breathy laugh from Jake. 

Actually very important. Super, extremely important. 

Probably the most important thing to ever happen. 

"You think my lisp is," he choked a little on his breath, "cute?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." He said a bit more confidently. There was a beat. "You're bi right?" Rich's eyes widened, but he nodded, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "So it's not like totally weird if I wanted to kiss you?" 

Rich sprung off the wall, eyes wide, nonchalant look lost completely. 

"You want to what?!" 

Jakes first two thoughts were:  
1\. Oh god, I just 130% creeped him out.  
2\. Oh my god. He's blushing.

"I don't know why I said that! I'm sorry, you just seemed upset and I kinda lost it bro!" The bro felt out of place. It fell out of his mouth and dropped to the ground. 

Bros don't want to kiss other bros. 

Rich's brown eyes met Jake's quickly, for a fleeting second, and Rich stood straight up and kissed him hard. Rich was not one for a quick peck. He was always all in or all out. 

This time he was all in. 

Jake's eyes were open and he appreciated the little things of the moment. 

Like how Rich had somehow gained almost two inches of height.  
1\. He must have been standing on his toes.  
2\. Rich had a lot more freckles than he thought.  
3\. Rich's hands were really calloused, but they felt great cupping his cheeks like this. 

He swung a lanky arm to the dip of Rich's back and lifted him up a bit more. His other hand gently rested on Rich's wrist. 

They separated for a moment and Rich's face split into a grin. Jake was real lucky he was there to see it. 

"Let's do that again instead of going to class." Jake said as he raised an eyebrow. Rich scoffed and smiled. 

"I didn't want to do that oral presentation anyways."


End file.
